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Monday, September 9, 2013

I've always worked in a male dominated industry and I don't
mind it one bit. I love my job and I enjoy my coworkers. There are certain
professions where women and men may have equal pay and benefits but will never
have an equal amount of each sex working together.

For example, nursing. Nursing draws a certain number of men
each year, but you are never going to have a nursing work force that has 50%
women and men. Women will always outnumber men in nursing. Construction is
another. A certain number of women will be drawn to the trades, but you are never
going to have an equal number of men and women on a construction site.

That's life.

I was shocked tonight to see a story on CBC about Memorial's student engineering society
allowing beer mugs bearing a sexually suggestive message at a recent student
engineering party.CBC quotes, Myfanwy
Price, president of Memorial's student engineering society, as saying the mug
was meant to be a joke.

A Joke? I didn't
find it funny.

I have spent 25
years and two careers in a male dominated workforce. What I have discovered in
the past ten years is the "Old Boys Club" is losing its steam. That's
happening for a number of reasons; because those card carrying members are
retiring, their daughters are following in the footsteps of their fathers and
labour laws are now very strict. Having said that, the "Old Boys
Club" still exists and has power.

What it is being
replaced with is the "Good Girls Club." That's the women who have
made it to the boardroom table, middle management or are still climbing the
ladder who support the "Old Boys" and be "Good Girls." They
are the girls that go along with bad sexist ideas like this mug, profess they never
see anything wrong, and swear that everything is fine. They also attack the
ones that stand up and say "Wait, This is wrong." They are the first
to say, "She's always making trouble, pick me, I'll keep my mouth
shut."

Ms. Price was
quoted as saying "This year's design was selected by our executive which
consists of six females and eight males, so it's important to note that,
too," said Price. "At the time we just thought, you know, it fits in
pop culture and it's a laugh."

The mug they gave
out featured a picture of a scantily-clad woman with the words, "If she's
thirsty, give her the D (day)." The expression 'Give Her the D' comes from
an infamous internet meme expression 'Give Her the Dick.' (According to the CBC
website).

So, Ms. Price,
let me tell why it's so wrong for you and the five other women on your
engineering society to have voted for this.

Let's go back to
1989, probably before you were born. Fourteen women were studying engineering
at École Polytechnique in Montreal. On December 6th, 1989 they became
famous, but not for breaking through the glass ceiling that existed for all
women back then, or for voting to put a scantily-clad women on a mug so the
guys would think they were one of them, but because they became victims of the Montreal
Massacre.

On that day, twenty-five-year-old
Marc Lepine armed with a legally obtained rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing
himself. He began his attack by entering a classroom at the university, where
he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was
"fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six.
He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom,
specifically targeting women to shoot. Overall, he killed fourteen women, injured
ten other women and four men in just under twenty minutes before turning the
gun on himself.His suicide note claimed political motives and
blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen
Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to
kill.

Ms. Price, you
and our five female collogues let these women down this week but you also let yourself
down. How do you think it would look when you're on a work term and you show up
at coffee break with a mug that says "If she's thirsty, give her the Dick?"
Engineering is still and will always be a male dominated field. These men would
think one of two things; 1. She's an idiot and not mature enough to be in this
profession or 2. She's going to be great fun at the Christmas party.Either way, you won't be asked back.

Sexism is not a
joke. Women who speak out about it know what they are talking about. You have
no idea what it feels like to work hard and have your power taken away, be
belittled and demeaned just because you are a women.

I will soon be
fifty years old. My daughter is thirteen. I would be so proud if she announced that
she was president of the student engineering society. I would be devastated to
find out she thought this mug was a good idea.

I can tell you
from years of experience that people never remember your mistakes, they only
remember how you recovered from them. If you were remorseful, if you were sincere
in your apology and if you learned a lesson.

You are very
young. You made a mistake. Hopefully you will learn from it and become a
powerful, important leader in engineering someday.

You and your
entire student engineering society have to sit down now and get real. First of
all Google the Montreal Massacre. Look at the pictures of those young girls. Look
at the faces of their mothers and fathers that go to the campus every Christmas
to mark the brutal murder of their daughters.

Remember, those
who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.

To the dean of
the Faculty of Engineering at Memorial University who has condemned the use of
the beer mugs, that's not enough. You have the biggest responsibility here. You
have announced that these students will be punished. Please do not do something
stupid like kick them out of school or make them give up their positions in
their society.

If MUN really
wants to make a difference here they have to get real. Send these six women to
Montreal for the annual ceremony that marks the Montreal Massacre. Have them stand shoulder to shoulder with the families
of the fourteen women who died and the survivors. Let them see the tears and
hear the sobs of grieving family and friends. Only then will they realize what
they have done. Only then will they understand "When she's thirsty... give
her knowledge, give her direction, empower her. Don't give her the dick."

Friday, September 6, 2013

So I am watching Miley Cyrus twerking her butt on YouTube. I
am not disgusted I am more in awe wondering how the hellshe gets her butt to do that. Being able to
twirk like that is a gift!

Having said that, twerking your butt off at the Video Awards
and uploading it to YouTube when you're an international pop star who's life
depends on the amount of publicity you get is one thing. Twerking your butt at
a club on George Street, taping it on your phone, and uploading it to your
Facebook page when you're a student at MUN, is just nasty.

I hardly ever go to George Street or night clubs in general.
Not that I am a prude, I am just.... 50. That's right 50 years old, and with
age hopefully comes wisdom. But I wasn't always this wise. At one time I too
was a 20 something girl in a mini skirt on George Street. Thank God twerking
and Facebook did not exist back then.

Recently I was invited to a party at a nightclub on our
famous George Street. I was really looking forward to it because I couldn't
remember the last time I was there. We met up with some old friends, enjoyed delicious
fish and chips and had a great time.

My favourite thing to do on George Street is not dance, but
people watch. People watching is the best sport there is. People always
entertain me. By the time I was on my third Vodka martini I noticed this pack
of three young girls standing a few feet away from me.

I am convinced we are raising a superior race of super
models. Girls today are all so tall and beautiful. These girls were at the top
of the food chain. Each one was tall, thin, and beautiful with long hair. If
they were 19 that's about all they were. One wore a black leather micro mini
skirt, or a wide belt as my Mother would say. She had on a white halter top
that had no back and I was wondering how the hell she kept it on. Her two
friends wore matching micro mini dresses, or sausage casings as my husband
would say. All three fought to keep their balance on four inch Lady Gaga heels.

We laughed watching them try to stay upright in the Gaga
heels, taking bets on which one was going to hit the floor first. I guess the
strain of four inch heels got to them because they carefully waddled over to a
tall table that had three stools around it. Each one tried their hardest to prop
themselves upon the stools but the skirts were too high and tight. They each
decided to lean against the table instead.

I noticed two things:

1. No one approached the girls at the table, although I did
notice guys watching them out of the corner of their eyes.
2. All the guys in the club were wearing a shirt, tie and suit. None of them
wore jeans.

Interesting I thought. All the guys looked like Justin
Timberlake and the girls looked like Miley Cyrus.

Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people
have little or no influence on society.” This I believe to be true. Remember
when guys were going around with their jeans down over their arse with their
underwear showing. I wanted to run around the mall reverse-pantsing everyone
(It means pulling them up instead of down). It would irk me to no end to see
grown men walking through the mall with their jeans below the cheeks of their
arse. Just for fun I would walk up next to them and whisper "Nice skid
marks on your Fruit of the Looms." Thank God this fad passed.

Coco Channel once said, "A girl should be two things:
classy and fabulous." I agree with this. I would hope my teenage daughter
restricts her twirking to sleep-over parties with her girl friends.I would hope she never thinks she needs a
micro mini skirt to attract the man of her dreams. I also hope if she chooses
to wear four inch heels that she will be smart enough to wear leggings so she
can sit down.

Oh I hear ya! Those without sin throw the first stone. Don't
worry, I am not throwing stones at anyone because I was that girl in the mini
skirt and high heels thirty years ago.My Mother used to say "There's no sense talking to you!" She
was right. We all have to learn on our own.

As women, we eventually learn that being smart IS
attractive. Being powerful and self assured is a good thing. We learn the
sexiest outfit is just a pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt. We learn that guys
who look at you out of the corner of their eyes are not giving you the look of
love. Then we learn that the difference between the most beautiful woman in the
room and the mousiest women in the room is not the price of her dress or the
length of her hair, it's her attitude and self confidence.

Then one day you find yourself at 50, searching "How do
you twerk?" on YouTube. Not because you want to do it on George Street in
a mini skirt, but because you want to embarrass your teenage daughter when she
has hosts her next sleepover.

My Mother used to say, "Why wait for a man to bring you
flowers when you have the ability to grow your own garden."

Maybe we need to teach our daughters how to be good
gardeners. Maybe we need to bring classy back.

I am Funny Like That

Helen C. Escott retired from the world renowned Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 2014 as the Senior Communications Strategist for Newfoundland and Labrador. Before joining the RCMP she worked in the media for 13 years (OZ FM/ VOCM/ CJYQ) in various positions including reporter, on-air personality, marketing and promotions.

In Retirement, Escott writes a blog called “I am Funny Like That” and has over 123,000 readers worldwide. Now this hysterical blog has come to life a witty book! It ranked on Amazon’s bestsellers list as #6 in Kindle Store and #20 in Books.

Escott has a unique perspective on life and a funny way of looking at it. From wearing granny panties to Brazilians to capturing the essence of a moment in a person’s life. Escott will make you laugh out loud and feel better about yourself. She is the best friend you have always wanted and the life of the party. You will be glad you invited her into your life.

If you have thrown your back out taking off Spanx, planned your husband's murder in your head or screamed through a Brazilian, this book is for you.

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